Operatives of CROSSBOW

British East Africa Company

The Imperial British East Africa Company was founded by William McKinnon in 1888 to administer British East Africa. It did so, taking on administration of Uganda in 1890, but poorly, and control was passed to the Foreign Office in 1895-6, first British East Africa and then Uganda becoming protectorates.

The company lost the epithet ‘Imperial’ with the dissolution of its administrative role, but continued to operate in a commercial and advisory capacity for another decade before its eventual collapse and dissolution.